


You know you give me love

by targaryen_melodrama



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M, POV Sam Wilson, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-03
Updated: 2020-02-03
Packaged: 2021-02-18 23:40:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22535020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/targaryen_melodrama/pseuds/targaryen_melodrama
Summary: It’s only once Sam’s removed his jacket and toed off his shoes that he hears the music, and finally, the last of the tension he’s been carrying for about 60 hours drains away, while a smile Sam didn’t even know he had the energy to sustain starts pulling at his lips.
Relationships: James "Rhodey" Rhodes/Sam Wilson
Comments: 2
Kudos: 25





	You know you give me love

Sam had felt a bit of tension leave his shoulders as soon as he’d started punching in digits on Rhodey’s door’s lock pad, and the bulk of it fades when he inserts his key into the lock, turns it, and feels the door open. 

“Good evening, Captain Wilson.” 

“How’s it going, Friday?”

In lieu of an answer, Sam hears the mild clang of a drawer pulling open next to him. He carefully places his shield inside, gently pushes the drawer shut, and lets Friday take care of locking up. 

“Thanks, Friday.”

It’s only once Sam’s removed his jacket and toed off his shoes that he hears the music, and finally, the last of the tension he’s been carrying for about 60 hours drains away, while a smile Sam didn’t even know he had the energy to sustain starts pulling at his lips. 

_Cause the man that you are is defined  
_ _By the way that you act in the light  
_ _Break or seize me_

 _If the flame gets blown out and you shine  
_ _I will know that you cannot be mine  
_ _Live or leave me_

Over FKA twigs’ light, ethereal singing, Sam remembers what prompted Rhodey into listening this particular song quite often for about two weeks now.

_Sam had felt bad that Rhodey had to deal with the trial that is meeting the extended Wilson clan so unexpectedly, but undoing the Thanos snap had, among several other things, brought about an impromptu Wilson family reunion a week after the fact, when most people had reappeared, and had understood enough of what had happened to need to see their loved ones._

_Rhodey had been grilled by Sam’s mother, aunts, uncles and siblings on his childhood (“Pretty standard childhood in West Philly, ma’am.”), his parents (“Parents got divorced in my twenties, both remarried. My father passed a few years ago, but we still do Christmas with both extended families.”) and his intentions (“Finding Sam was unexpected blessing, I have no intention of letting it pass me by.”)_

_He’d mistakenly thought, bless his heart, that the interrogation would be over once he stepped in the living room, where the 25 and younger crowd was hanging out along with Sam, who’d been given a pass on account of being ‘Goddamn Captain America now’._

_Intentions, family and upbringing apparently weren’t as interesting as the most beautiful place he’d seen (“Wakanda, without a doubt.”), the coolest thing he’d done (“There was this one time in Iceland一wait, that’s actually classified.”) and the most famous person he’d met (“It’s a tie between Neil Armstrong and Beyoncé.”)_

_Rhodey was on his way to passing with flying colors, until the conversation turned to entertainment. When asked about the TV shows he was currently watching, letting Sam’s niece Eva know that he was alternating between binging_ Living Single _, the_ X-Files _and a documentary on historical discoveries on the History Channel, Rhodey, in one fell swoop, tanked his performance and relieved Sam’s brother of the ‘old, out of touch uncle’ status._

_“Oh my God,” Eva says, almost shocked, “he’s worse than my dad. Bet you don’t listen to music that’s been released this century.”_

_“Don’t be rude,” Eva’s sister Jada says, “you know_ Confessions _is the most played album on his phone.”_

 _“_ Phone _? Whitney Houston and Stevie Wonder’s greatest hits are the only albums on his iPod.”_

 _“Nah, nah, y’all are doing too much. Colonel Rhodes has the entire discography of three artists on his mp3 player: Earth Wind and Fire, The Jackson Five and Ray Charles. And_ one _song by Destiny’s Child.”_

_“Not Destiny’s Child. Xscape!”_

_Sam is hiding his laughter in the glass of punch, keeping his comments to himself, mostly because he wants to see how his boyfriend is gonna dig himself out of that one, but also because one syllable from him and he’d be the next roastee._

_“Not even Beyoncé?” Rhodey suggests, laughter in his eyes._

_“Hmm...maybe_ Dangerously in Love _. But that’s it!”_

_“Okay, so whose music do I need to listen to to keep up with the youth?”_

_“Forget music,” Jody says, his voice startlingly far away from the voice of the nine year old boy Sam had FaceTimed with before being dusted out of existence, “start with never saying “keep up with the youth” ever again.”_

_“Copy that,” Rhodey acknowledges with a tilt of his head that couldn’t completely hide his smile. “Anything else?”_

_After five minutes of bickering, Jody had suggested they all make their own playlists and combine them together, since they were bound to have some similarities. Rhodey had promised to listen, and tell them about his favorites the next time he saw them._

_“The Weeknd...just doesn’t do it for me,” Rhodey says much later, scrolling through said playlist on their car trip back to D.C._

_“I know who SZA is,” Rhodey mutters. Then, more annoyed, “I know who Rihanna is.”_

_After a few more minutes of muttering to himself and scrolling, he sighs._

_“You know what’s ironic about this? Most of the people on this playlist, whether they admit or not, are clearly inspired by the...old music I apparently exclusively listen to.”_

_“That’s exactly what the old man you’re trying to prove you aren’t would say,” Sam points out, raising an eyebrow. Rhodey opens his mouth, closes it before saying anything and frowns, and Sam doesn’t even laugh. Hey, maybe he_ is _a blessing._

_They hit a red light and Sam kisses Rhodey’s forehead, in an attempt to smooth out his frown. And then, because Rhodey’s a blessing too, Sam kisses his cheek, then indulges them both by giving Rhodey a brief, fond kiss on the lips._

_"Eyes on the road, Wilson,” Rhodey says, his tone everything but the stern tone he’s trying to achieve._

_"Yes, sir.” Sam lets Rhodey scroll some more, before he adds,“You know, you can connect your phone to the car to start listening to the playlist. It’s this amazing new little thing called Bluetooth, you just—"_

_"I know you’re driving, but I’ll turn this car around."_

_It was all Sam could do to contain his laughter, and every one of Rhodey’s eye rolls and sighs made him laugh harder. The trip back home felt like it lasted all of 20 minutes, instead of four hours._

Sam had poked fun at Rhodey all the way back to DC, and it almost made up for realizing just how much you can miss in five fucking years. Almost.

Though Sam can hear some puttering around the kitchen, he goes to the bathroom first to wash his hands and splash some water on his face. The rush from red eye he’d drunk before debrief had already faded, and since Sam would love to sleep through the night, he isn’t about to have another cup of coffee. 

_Guess I’m an old man, too, huh_. 

Sam goes to Rhodey’s bedroom to change out of the faded black tee and jeans he’d been wearing when his alert went off almost three days ago. He pulls on the ridiculously soft fleece sweatpants Maria had gotten him at the Shield 3.0 Holiday Gift Exchange and the first shirt he can find, which happens to be one of the millions of shirts MIT sends Rhodey’s way at the beginning of every school year. After a few seconds of hesitation, he changes out of his socks too, and it doesn’t take him long to locate Rhodey’s warmest wool socks.

By the time Sam joins Rhodey in the kitchen, one of Sam’s favorites has started playing. 

_Hold my hand in error_  
 _Don’t tell of this place  
It’s for me and you only_

“Still discovering the ways of the youth ?”

Rhodey faces Sam with an eye roll. “Getting better at it everyday. By Thanksgiving, you’ll be next on the old uncle roster.”

“Being Captain America comes with age-concealing powers, didn’t I tell you?” Sam would banter some more, he really would, but two and a half days is still way too long, so instead, he closes the short distance between the entrance of the kitchen, where he’s standing, and the kitchen island where Rhodey’s leaning.

Sam thought coming home couldn’t get better than locking the shield away, changing into comfortable clothes and hearing Rhodey sing quietly to himself in the kitchen. But after kissing his boyfriend hello after an awful mission, Rhodey’s hands warm against his jaw, his stubble prickling against Sam’s skin, Sam knows he was sorely mistaken. He doesn’t even try to withhold his sigh when Rhodey’s arms circle his waist, and he gets to lean his head on Rhodey’s shoulder for a beautiful, quiet moment. 

Sam loves, _craves_ action. Craves _movement_ , whether it’s with his friends or with his family, at work or at home, or with his partners. Yet here, like this, his head on Rhodey’s shoulder and his hand on Rhodey’s heart, Sam would swear standing still is what he was born to do. 

After a moment, Rhodey moves up slightly, and rubs a hand up and down Sam’s back.

“Speaking of Captain America,” he says, his voice rumbling pleasantly under Sam’s hand, “since you have tomorrow off, I thought we should celebrate a little, if you’re up for it.” 

Sam raises his head to look up at Rhodey. “Celebrate?”

“Your first mission as Cap, leading your own team. Hell, we didn’t do much about you getting promoted to Captain America in the first place.”

“Oh.” Sam wants to roll his eyes at his ridiculous answer, and moves towards to the other side of their kitchen island to grab a seat, which is when he notices two bourbon glasses and a bottle Booker’s. 

He clears his throat. “That’s really thoughtful, baby. Thank you,” Sam says, and he means it too, though he’s also foolishly hoping that nothing will come of his answer, and that they can move on to spend a nice, quiet evening together. 

“Talk to me, Sam. What’s going on?”

 _Foolish_. 

“I...I’m not really in a mood to celebrate,” Sam says, though it sounds more like a question than an answer.

“I figured that,” Rhodey says with a humorless smile. “I’m wondering why that is.”

“For starters, it was a shit mission.”

“Figured that, too.”

Sam sighs, takes a moment to think about when things had started to feel even more wrong than usual. “I was getting asked a pointless question by a journalist—I’d answered it twice before he asked—and I realized how...just how fucking tired I was. And it’s only our first mission. And then I started thinking about just how much unnecessary and tiring bullshit I’d signed up for, for myself and for the kids on the team, especially outside of missions. How much bullshit you’re gonna have to deal with because of me.”

Rhodey raises his eyebrows wordlessly and Sam smiles, then outright laughs, and concedes with a nod. 

“I know, baby, I know. But I _am_ worried. I can’t help it, I’m—I’m worried. I’m worried about you, about my mama, about Jody and Sarah and Gideon and about myself. I’m worried about going through...through everything for over a decade and signing up for more.” _Everything_ is a list that started at losing Riley, and currently ends at losing Steve, though it’s bound to grow longer. “And you being more than capable of taking care of yourself still doesn’t change the fact that I’m walking around with a literal target that’s constantly strapped to my back.”

They’re both quiet for a moment, the lengthy silent outro of the last song making the kitchen quiet too, save for Sam’s worry echoing loudly around the room.

Rhodey puts his drink down and meets Sam on the other side of the island. His hands are on Sam’s shoulders first, squeezing reassuringly, then his left drops to grab Sam’s right on his lap, and his right moves back up to briefly touch his face before settling on Sam’s shoulder. 

“Sam, honey.” Sam closes his eyes against his wish, his cheeks flushing. He doesn’t remember the last time a pet name made him feel this way. “I won’t say this is fate. It’s hard work, commitment, talent, unfailing perseverance and resilience. It’s you being one of the people most dedicated to helping anyone and everyone in all every way you know how.” Rhodey smiles, tightens his hold on Sam’s hand. “It’s you being you. And somehow, you happened to be on the planet where science turned a man into enough of a wonder that he was able to meet you a century later, and happened to meet that man here, a few years ago. But you being worthy of this? It’s no accident. There are several ways to help people Sam, and this one, flawed and gritty and hard as it is? It’s yours.”

The words, as gently as they were spoken, hit Sam right to his core, then travel up up, warming his heart and clearing his head on the way, and all the way down to his feet. 

“I’m the one who’s supposed to give inspiring speeches now,” Sam mutters, before turning and placing a quick kiss on Rhodey’s palm.

“To the rest of the world, maybe. But considering I still outrank you, it’s gonna take a while for you to get on my level. _If_ you get there.”

“I didn’t know you were in the business of taking on challenges you couldn’t win, Colonel Rhodes.”

“I didn’t know you were still in the business of talking that much shit after your promotion, Captain Wilson.” 

“I always talk shit,” Sam says with a grin. He has no clue how Rhodey got him back to a decent mood so fast, and with so few words, but has no plans to ask. “It’s one of the best things about me.”

Rhodey turns and pushes the glasses and the bottle closer. “Nah. Doesn’t even crack top ten.”

Sam is still very much a human man; there’s only so much he can take. 

“Uh uh” he says, pulling Rhodey’s hand away from the glasses, and getting out of his chair to properly kiss him. “This can wait.”

Some time later, when Sam is back to being able to form proper and complete thoughts, his back to Rhodey’s chest, who’s leaning on their bed frame, he remembers that superhero life can be bearable with a good team by his side, and realizes, for the first time, just how much better bourbon tastes in bed, drinking with the man he loves. 

**Author's Note:**

> It is ironic that I chose two songs from twigs' earlier projects to talk about what the youth is listening to, but I really, really wanted Ultraviolet in particular to be playing in the background at that moment, so, well, here we are. 
> 
> Also, I think Primetime by Janelle Monae featuring Miguel would work quite well here too, but I feel like Rhodey would already know/like Janelle Monae and/or Miguel, and I didn't wanna get rid of this whole nonsense scenario as to why Rhodey started listening to FKA twigs (I personally don't think she'd be in his library) cause I liked it, so, again, here we are.
> 
> I'm sure we'll be back to our regularly scheduled SamBucky/SamSteve soon, but this is the first fic plot that's plopped into my head and excited me for a while. 
> 
> Anywho, I hope y'all enjoyed this! Feel free to leave comments. Title is from Ultraviolet by FKA twigs.
> 
> I am on [Tumblr](https://targaryenmelodrama.tumblr.com)!


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